Daniel 6:1-13

1Darius decided to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, stationed throughout the realm,

2and over them three administrators, including Daniel. These satraps would be accountable to them so that the king would not be defrauded.

3Daniel distinguished himself above the administrators and satraps because he had an extraordinary spirit, so the king planned to set him over the whole realm.

4The administrators and satraps, therefore, kept trying to find a charge against Daniel regarding the kingdom. But they could find no charge or corruption, for he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

5Then these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

6So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said to him, “May King Darius live forever.

7All the administrators of the kingdom  — the prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors — have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an edict that, for thirty days, anyone who petitions any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den.

8Therefore, Your Majesty, establish the edict and sign the document so that, as a law of the Medes and Persians, it is irrevocable and cannot be changed.”

9So King Darius signed the written edict.

10When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

11Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God.

12So they approached the king and asked about his edict: “Didn’t you sign an edict that for thirty days any person who petitions any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “As a law of the Medes and Persians, the order stands and is irrevocable.”

13Then they replied to the king, “Daniel, one of the Judean exiles, has ignored you, the king, and the edict you signed, for he prays three times a day.”